MEBANE — After two straight shutouts thrown by Eastern Alamance softball pitcher Grayson Allen-Ingle, she and the Eagles had to work to reach the Class 3-A Eastern Regional of the state playoffs Tuesday night.

Facing adversity trailing midway through the game against visiting South Johnston, a six-run fourth inning propelled the Eagles to a 10-6 victory.

“It feels good to know we don’t have to shut teams out all the time,” Allen-Ingle said. “It feels good to have to work like that. I like that feeling of having to work hard to truly know you won and that you truly beat them. It was definitely a fight.”

Next the Eagles (24-4) head to the best-of-3 regional final with Greenville Conley starting Thursday night at home.

Sending 12 batters to the plate in the fourth inning, Eastern Alamance used six walks — three consecutive to score two before a passed ball scored a third — and three hits to push six runs across to take a 7-3 lead.

“You can’t give up the big inning,” South Johnston coach Mickey Bridgers said. “We gave up the big inning and were still within two runs going to the bottom of the sixth.”

Earlier, Allen-Ingle worked around a leadoff walk in the first inning to retire the Trojans quietly before the Eagles claimed a 1-0 advantage in the bottom of the first inning on a solo home run from Mandi Ballard to nearly straightaway center field.

As the game progressed, the strike zone shrank. Being forced to throw it down the middle for strikes or walk batter after batter, Allen-Ingle was roughed up in the second and third innings and surrendered the lead.

“The umpire really tightened up on both teams throughout the game,” Eastern Alamance coach Danny Way said. “He had a really tight strike zone and he made us throw it across the plate. They have really good hitters and they did what they’re supposed to do — hit it.”

Six pitches into the second inning, South Johnston (21-7) had tied the game on a leadoff single from Caroline Dorman and a booming double to left-center field from starting pitcher Lauren Higgins.

Allen-Ingle settled down to get the next two outs via a groundout back to her and a strikeout, but No. 9 batter Alexis Massengill came through to break the tie with an RBI single.

Another run in the third inning had the momentum in the Trojans’ dugout when Kayla Allen led off the frame with a double dropping just inside the left-field line. After a single from Madison Byrd and a sacrifice bunt by Dorman, Higgins chopped a swinging bunt back to Allen-Ingle. Racing home on the play, Allen forced Allen-Ingle to go to first for the out instead of risking a play at the plate and coming up empty as South Johnston took a 3-1 lead.

Page 2 of 2 - “It was a struggle and I had to work with him, but eventually I got it,” Allen-Ingle said. “It was hard but I got more of a feel for it midway through and just worked through it.”

Way pointed Eastern Alamance’s success this season to the team’s aggressiveness at the plate in hitters’ counts. Instead of an aggressive approach, the Eagles had to change gears and be patient rather then swing freely to get back in the game.

“That’s the way we play,” he said. “We come out swinging. If we hit it, we hit it. If we don’t, we don’t. That’s the way I look at it.”

After Eastern Alamance took the lead, South Johnston got two of those runs back in the top of the sixth to pull within 7-5. The duo of Dinalee Spell and Higgins in the circle couldn’t keep the Eagles at bay in the bottom of the frame as Eastern Alamance converted for three runs.

“The difference was our pitcher can put it just about anywhere she wants,” Way said of Ingle-Allen. “When you put it across the plate like that, they’re going to hit it. She just adjusted really well and started to hit spots.”

While Allen-Ingle was the only Eagles batter to record multiple hits, Allen, Dorman and Higgins each picked up two for the Trojans.

“We showed that we don’t give up and showed that our defense can play. We had to make plays,” Way said. “These kids out here do not give up. It showed when they got a little behind.”

The 24 victories broke the school record, which was set in 2002 when Chris Miller, now at Southern Alamance, was the coach of the Eagles.

“We have the most wins in school history now with 24,” Way said. “We’re ready to keep going.”